Methods and systems for processing, accounting, and administration of stored value cards

ABSTRACT

Methods are described for accounting, administration and processing of transactions utilizing a stored value card utilizing an EFT service gateway and providing balances for the cards across a plurality of point of sale devices. One method includes receiving a message generated by the point of sale system of a merchant and parsing the message into data elements. The method also includes routing the message through a switch controller to an account holder database based on an institution ID and a branch ID, accessing an account within the database utilizing the account key, and determining if an account holder&#39;s monetary balance in the account is greater than or equal to the transaction amount. A message is formatted and one of an authorization approval or a denial based upon the determination is transmitted within the message.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/927,684, filed Aug. 27, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No.7,797,233 which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/354,776, filed Jan. 30, 2003 which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/352,960, filed Jan.30, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the facilitating of transactions,and more specifically to systems and methods for facilitating the issueof stored value, gift cards and the account management, processing, andsettlement of transactions by banks, credit unions, or third partyprocessors. The consumer acceptance of stored value cards, such asmonetary gift cards issued by retail merchants to consumers, hasproliferated in recent years. Transactions which take place utilizingthese cards have been conducted utilizing proprietary, closed networksoperated within the point of sale systems deployed by the said merchantand electronic funds transfer networks.

Banks and credit unions have not participated in the issue of storedvalue cards since products, services, and system gateways typically donot exist between their core accounting systems and proprietary merchantpoint of sale systems. Given the growth of the stored-value cardindustry, banks and credit unions have investigated different means tooffer these plastic card based services.

Real estate developers who own retail shopping malls have also expresseda desire to participate in offering monetary, stored-value cards toconsumers as a replacement for paper gift certificates currentlypurchased by consumers. Paper gift certificates typically are printedwith a bank routing and transit number that enables the certificate tobe cashed or deposited by any merchant or financial institution bothwithin, and outside of, the mall. In addition, for those consumertransactions completed with amounts lower than face value limit of thecertificate, the mall merchant must return cash to the consumer versusadditional products or services.

Both shopping malls and merchants within the geography of the malldesire certificates to be replaced with private label, monetary, storedvalue, gift cards. These gift cards must be issued by a bank or creditunion and operate seamlessly across a variety of merchant point of salemachines using the existing debit and credit card networks, such asVISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover, typically connected tothe existing merchant point of sale machines. The gift card transactionsmust be limited to merchants within the boundaries defined by theshopping mall or developer who manages multiple malls.

Two types of gift card products, branded and private label, aretypically available from the debit and credit card networks. A brandedcard product where the network logo is placed on the card must beaccepted universally at all merchants worldwide. A private label cardthat utilizes the debit and credit card networks but does not includethe logo associated with the network can be limited to a subset of themerchants who accept the card. The private label card services requiresa database and profile of the merchants to be created and maintained inorder to perform the merchant matching procedures associated withlimited use.

Typically, holders of these stored value, gift cards are anonymous innature. That is, if a card is lost, the finder of the card is able toutilize any remaining funds on the card as if it was his own.

Another problem with the anonymity is that a card holder has difficultyin determining a balance of the stored value remaining on the card.Either the user has to manually track the stored value remaining on thecard, or some processors, typically those associated with shoppingmalls, deploy specialized card reading machines which provide a balanceremaining to the user when the card is scanned. However, when the userattempts to utilize the stored value card for a transaction within theshopping mall, for example at a restaurant or a clothing store, and hasnot previously determined the remaining value on the card, thetransaction may be denied for lack of monetary value on the card.

Still another problem is that the individual establishments within themall typically only have access to one electronic funds transfer systemthrough a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, and the stored value cards arenot completely compatible with these electronic fund transfer systemsand terminals. The problem for the shopper is that when the transactionis denied, the shopper is only notified of the denial, and is notprovided with balance data. In a real world example, if the shopper isattempting to make a $35.00 purchase with a stored value card which has$25.00 of stored value, he or she is typically unable to complete thetransaction utilizing $10.00 of cash or perhaps a credit or debit cardto make up the difference as a split-tender.

Another desire of merchants and developers is to enable stored-value,gift cards to be reloaded upon the depletion of the funds availablethrough the card. The process of reloading the cards with additionalmonetary funds must be completed through various mediums such as clientterminals located at mall customer service desks, through Internet webservices, or through ISO 8583 debit card transactions credit funds tothe account of the card holder. In addition, merchants desire loyaltyprograms to be delivered in association with the reloading of the giftcard where merchant monetary dividends would be posted into the accountof the card holder. The anticipated result is loyalty created betweenmerchants and consumers and monetary compensation is passed back to theconsumer in reward of this merchant loyalty.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, a method for completing a stored value card transactionutilizing a gateway into a national, ISO 8583 electronic funds transferservice is provided. The method comprises receiving at the gateway anISO 8583 formatted message originally generated by the point of salesystem of a retail merchant, parsing the message into a series of dataelements representing at least a transaction amount, a transaction type,a merchant ID, a bank identification number, an institution ID, a branchID, and an account identifier, and validating the merchant ID existswithin the merchant database assigned to the issued card. The methodfurther comprises routing the message through a switch controller to anaccount holder database based on the institution ID and the branch ID,accessing an account within the database utilizing the account key,determining if an account holder's monetary balance in the account isgreater than or equal to the transaction amount, formatting transactiondata, the transaction data including at least a transaction amount, abank ID number, an institution ID, a branch ID, and an account key, intoan ISO-8583 compatible message, and transmitting one of an authorizationapproval or a denial based upon the determination.

In another aspect, an accounting system for regional malls, operators ofmalls and developers is provided. The accounting system performs as atransaction processing center and comprises a database and file systemwhich includes at least one of anonymous and known consumer account dataand a plurality of retail merchant and mall office workstations runningclient applications networked over LANs and secure WANs. The system alsocomprises a secure Internet banking gateway that receives inquiries fromat least one of consumers utilizing at least one of the Internet, atelephone system, and point of sale terminals, card dispensing machines,and the retail merchant and mall office workstations, and the consumersand workstations requesting account balances and transaction history tobe delivered via web services. The system also comprises a telephonegateway that receives inquiries from at least one of consumers and theretail merchant and mall office workstations requesting account balancesand transaction histories, the inquiries being answered utilizing storedvoice recordings. The system further comprises an electronic fundstransfer (EFT) gateway networked into one or more ISO 8583 electronicfunds transfer services, at least one funds settlement gateway into atleast one of the Federal Reserve ACH network and corporate credit unionautomated settlement network, and a messaging and switch controller usedto simultaneously route stored value card transactions and clientinitiated transactions from at least one of said gateways.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a core network of financial transactionsystems.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the system of FIG. 1 with an additional storedvalue card databases, gateways, and settlement systems.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a transaction processing method performed bythe system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an example numbering plan for a stored value card system.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a settlement process.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process for completing balance inquiries utilizingthe system shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a receipt from a point-of-service machineproviding an alphanumeric card balance of more than one dollar.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a receipt from a point-of-service machineproviding an alphanumeric card balance of less than one dollar.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a receipt from a point-of-service machineproviding an alphanumeric card balance of zero.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process for creating analphanumeric receipt for a card balance returned within an authorizedmessage or balance inquiry.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process for capturing the merchant ID and buildingthe merchant profile supporting future cardholder requests forredemption.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process for translating a pennyauthorization into a card account balance inquiry message.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process for instantly reversing a transaction andcrediting monetary value onto a stored value card.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process for the removal of automated holds placedon card balances.

FIG. 15 is a sample report for a shopping center end of day transactionsummary by mall property used for balancing.

FIG. 16 is a sample report for an end of day account transaction detailby property.

FIG. 17 is a sample report for the daily redemption of merchanttransactions completed at a mall property.

FIG. 18 is a sample report defining a merchant redemption summary for amonth by mall property.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A variety of stored value card platforms is described that are offeredby banking institutions and credit unions to merchants, retail centerowners, and consumers that result from the integration of banking andcredit union accounting practices, systems and services, national andinternational settlement and electronic transaction networks. Anonymousgift card services, enabled by stored value cards and offered bymerchants, mall operators and developers, are enabled by the mapping andswitching of transactions that historically have not crossed businessboundaries of the diverse, highly regulated, financial industries andregional merchants or mall developers. Several diverse industrystandards are mapped together via computer software programs andelectronic switching and transaction networks to perform the necessaryaccounting system interfaces between the diverse industry groups.

In one embodiment, a typical banking or credit union system architectureis applied to the needs of the shopping mall operators and developers.The bank accounting system must adhere to the practices and use ofcustomizable parameter files that allow a mall or developer to set keyvariables such as fee thresholds and assign periods of time before acard holder account becomes dormant. The banking system also provides ahierarchical numbering plan that will enable a developer to issue cardsto one or many malls and complete daily balancing procedures for eachmall or across all malls as necessary. The numbering plan and systemarchitecture enable cards to be issued and redeemed at a single mall ormerchant within a geographic location, issued and redeemed at amultiplicity of malls or merchants with no geographical limitations, orissued in subsets of merchants affiliated within a common loyaltyprogram.

All the products and services offered by the financial services industryare enabled for the anonymous card holder via the mall accountingsystem. In essence, the mall performs the financial services consistentwith the bank.

One significant benefit of the banking system is the inherent trackingof dormant accounts that is required for the gift card service offeredby malls. Consistent with state escheatment laws, malls and developersare allowed to charge service fees, sometimes referred to as accountmaintenance fees, against dormant accounts after a period of timenormally ranging from six to eighteen months. These fees may be chargeduntil the card expires or the balance on the card is reduced to zero. Inone embodiment, service fees for the gift card, which typically beginafter six months with branded cards, can be postponed until a desiredtime utilizing system 10. Postponement of service fees is thought toresult in establishing good will with the customers of groupings ofmerchants.

Managing the account balances including historical transactions forcurrent as well as dormant accounts is one feature of the hereindescribed accounting system deployed for malls and developers.Sophisticated bank or credit union systems maintain online transactiongateways with the national electronic funds transfer (EFT) networks thatconform to the ISO 8583 international standard enabling card servicessuch as debit, ATM, and point of sale services to be delivered to theconsumer. This national standard has been implemented across a varietyof merchant point of sale systems allowing a seamless transfer ofpurchasing transactions to be passed across national and internationalEFT networks linking merchants, banks and credit unions across theglobe.

In a similar solution, malls performing as card issuers use the ISO 8583gateway to carry stored value card transactions to accounting databasesrepresenting the card holder accounts. Using the dividend calculationand accounting structure established for bank and credit unioncustomers, gift card issuers deploy a merchant loyalty program that isbased upon a pre-approved percentage of the sale (e.g. 10%) to be paidas a dividend to the card holder account as a reward to theirdemonstrated loyalty and business brought to the participating merchant.For banks and credit unions, these dividend programs exist today and aretypically calculated each month or quarter for savings, CD's andIndividual retirement accounts.

Funds settlement between the mall gift card issuer, banks, credit unionsand national EFT networks is completed for stored-value cards usingproven operational systems. Transfers between financial institutionsare, at least in part, handled utilizing an automated clearinghousenetwork (ACH). The ACH Network is a batch processing, store-and-forwardsystem. Transactions received by the financial institution during theday are stored and processed later in a batch mode. Rather than sendingeach payment separately, ACH transactions are accumulated and sorted bydestination for transmission during a predetermined time period. Thisprovides significant economies of scale. It also provides fasterprocessing than paper checks, which must be physically handled. Insteadof using paper to carry necessary transaction information, ACHtransactions are transmitted electronically between financialinstitutions through data transmission. Typically, five participants areinvolved in an ACH transaction: the originating company or individual(Originator), the Originating Depository Financial Institution (ODFI),the ACH Operator, the Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI),and the receiving company, employee or customer (Receiver).

The Originator is an entity that agrees to initiate ACH entries into thepayment system according to an arrangement with a Receiver. TheOriginator is usually a company directing a transfer of funds to or froma consumer's or another company's account. In the case of a CustomerInitiated Entry (CIE), the Originator may be an individual initiatingfunds transfer activity from his or her own account. The term “company”is intended to represent the Originator of electronic ACH entries anddoes not imply exclusion of other types of organizations (i.e., Federal,state and local government agencies). An Originator may be either acompany or a consumer.

From a system architecture perspective, FIG. 1 illustrates a corenetwork of financial transaction processing systems 10 typicallycombined to offer a suite of financial services, including fundstransfer and electronic banking transactions, to banking customers andmembers of credit unions. Processing system 10 includes a relationaldatabase and electronic file system 12 of consumer and business accountsthat contain information about every account holder associated with thebank or credit union. In one embodiment, database 12 includes name andaddress information, a variety of financial accounts such as checking,savings, loans, and investments such as certificate of deposit andinvestment retirement accounts. Database 12 typically resides on securecomputer servers (not shown) with highly redundant components tomaintain the integrity of the account holder files.

Database 12 is accessed by clients through file servers utilizing PCworkstations 14, which are logically combined by a LAN or remotelylinked to branch offices 16 by a WAN. Utilizing workstations 14, clientscreate transaction messages that initiate the primary financial servicesof deposit, withdrawal, account transfer, inquiry, and file maintenancefor their accounts residing in database 12.

The clients transactions are routed by a software messaging and switchcontroller 18 that in one embodiment utilizes TCP/IP socketcommunications to establish logical network connections between theclients and servers to transfer data and complete core accountingfunctions.

Both manual and automated clients drive a variety of transactionsagainst account holder database and file system 12. These may includeelectronic clients residing in gateways into the Internet 20, publictelephone systems 22, national Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) networks(ATM, Point of Sale, Debit Card, and Shared Branch) 24, and nationalfunds settlement networks operated by the Federal Reserve and CorporateCredit Union system 26.

Each of these different gateways operate utilizing message formats thathave been standardized across the industry or using proprietary formatsthat have been created by vendors who deliver products in support of thebanking and credit union industries. Often, the gateways into thevarious networks described above complete a mapping of transactions intoa common format that allows the primary financial services of deposit,withdrawal, account transfer, inquiry, and file maintenance to becompleted seamlessly across system 10.

System 10 also provides functions such as administration and managementreporting, settlement, statement generation, financial projections,interest calculations, amortization, and overall general ledgerfunctions required to manage the bank and credit union as required byfederal regulations.

FIG. 2 illustrates the enhancements required for the bank or creditunion platform that enable the system of FIG. 1 to be customized formalls and developers who offer stored-value, gift card services.Referring to FIG. 2, system 50 includes an accounting system with clientsystems 52 for regional malls, operators of malls and developers thatincludes a database and file system 54 which includes both anonymous andknown consumer account data. These databases may be accessed viaworkstations (not shown) located at the retail merchant and mall officeand networked over LANs and secure WANs.

A client application is deployed at the client system 52 and thisapplication enables cards to be issued at the mall customer service deskusing tools such as a magnetic card swipe reader to populate and matchthe cards with pre-loaded accounts at the consumer 12 and anonymousaccount databases 54.

The mall or developer network is dependent upon access through thenational EFT networks operated by VISA, MasterCard, Discover, andAmerican Express, or regional operators such as FDR, STAR, and PLUS toaccess the point of sale systems and devices 56 at participatingmerchant offices. These devices and systems utilize the ISO 8583standard protocol when generating and receiving transactions during thepurchase and authorization processes. As such, the gift card systems andmethods described herein do not require any changes to any point-of-salesystem that accepts branded cards and no additional equipment is neededat merchant locations.

Other components include a stored-value, merchant database and filingsystem 58 that is assigned to each of the cards issued by malls ordevelopers. Transactions are validated against this database during theprocess of transaction authorization.

A secure Internet banking gateway 20 is deployed that receives inquiriesfrom at least one of consumers utilizing at least one of the Internet, atelephone system, and point of sale terminals, card dispensing machines,and said retail merchant and mall office workstations, the consumers andworkstations requesting account balances and transaction history to bedelivered via web services.

A telephone gateway 22 is deployed that receives inquiries from at leastone of consumers and said retail merchant and mall office workstationsrequesting account balances and transaction histories, the inquiriesbeing answered utilizing stored voice recordings.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart 70 of the transaction processing method of theflowchart performed by the system of FIG. 2. In one embodiment, themethod is for completing a stored value card transaction utilizing theabove described gateway into a national, ISO 8583 electronic fundstransfer service. Referring specifically to FIG. 3, an ISO 8583formatted message originally generated by the point of sale system of aretail merchant is received 72 at the gateway. The received 72 messageis parsed 74 into a series of data elements representing at least, butnot limited to, a transaction amount, a transaction type, a merchant ID,a bank identification number, an institution ID, a branch ID, and anaccount identifier. The merchant ID is validated 76 to ensure the IDexists within the merchant database assigned to the issued stored valuecard. In one embodiment, one of the data elements includes data relatingto a language selection by a user which results in creation, storage,and delivery of character strings, similar to those described herein, inthe selected language.

The message is routed 78 through a switch controller to an accountholder database based on the institution ID and the branch ID and anaccount is accessed 80 within the database utilizing the account key. Itis determined 82 whether an account holder's monetary balance in theaccount is greater than or equal to the transaction amount. Transactiondata, which includes at least a transaction amount, a bank ID number, aninstitution ID, a branch ID, and an account identifier, is formatted 84into an ISO-8583 compatible message and one of an authorization approvalor a denial, based upon the determination, is transmitted 86.

FIG. 4 is an example numbering plan for a stored value card system. Atleast a portion of transaction data is included in a stored value cardaccount number, as illustrated in FIG. 4. In one embodiment, an accountnumber 90 for the card is a 16 character string. Specifically, and inone embodiment, a six character field is defined as a bankidentification number 92, a two character field is defined as aninstitution ID 94, which, for example, identify a developer or an ownerof several malls or shopping centers for the stored value card. A branchID 96 is a two character identifier for which particular mall orshopping center of the developer from which the card is or is to beissued. A six character account identifier 98 is utilized to identifyindividual stored value cards. Such numbering plans and card encodingprovide risk avoidance and fraud detection procedures while stillcomplying with the procedures created for settlement of electronic fundstransfers. As a merchant list for the stored value cards is controlled,fraudulent activities can be immediately identified, whereas, fraudulentactivities with a branded card good at 30 million locations cannot.

In one embodiment, when utilizing the stored value card, the ISO-8583formatted message that is generated includes a transaction code whichsignifies that the desired transaction is at least one of a deposit, awithdrawal, a transfer, and a balance inquiry.

FIG. 5 diagrams a settlement process 120 for issuance and usage ofstored value cards utilizing system 50 as above described. Referringspecifically to FIG. 5 card issuing institutions, for example, shoppingmalls 122, mall developers 124 and banks and credit unions 126 providetransaction data to a funds settlement gateway 128, for example, via asecure data network connection. The transaction data is utilized tocredit or debit a settlement account 130. The funds from settlementaccount 130 are, in one embodiment, wired to a second funds settlementgateway 132 which provides access to an electronic funds transfernetwork 134. Electronic funds transfer network 134 provides a transferof the funds to merchant acquirer networks 136, which are configured tocredit and debit, as the individual cases may be, accounts of individualmerchants 138, for example.

In one embodiment, at least some of the funds transfer files arecompatible with the Federal Reserve banking system file formats and atleast some of the funds transfer files are compatible with CorporateCredit Union automated settlement network file formats. Funds equal tothe total within each funds transfer file transferred to settlementaccount 130 as described above utilizing known distribution methods.

In one embodiment, for a balance inquiry, a balance inquiry message iscreated when the account holders' monetary balance is less than a pointof sale transaction amount. An ISO 8583 response code for declining theauthorization request is selected, and an alpha-numeric stringcontaining the current account balance and text message describing thereason for declining the transaction is created.

The response code and alpha-numeric string is formatted into an ISO 8583compatible message and an authorization denial is transmitted to thegateway where it is routed to the originating merchant point of saledevice. Finally, a text message is displayed at the point of sale whichindicates the denial, but also provides an available balance on thestored value card which, for example, the merchant can provide to theholder of the stored value card.

FIG. 6 diagrams a process 180 for balance inquiries utilizing the systemof FIG. 2. In one embodiment, consumers and mall operators utilizeinternet gateways 182 to initiate and receive results of balanceinquiries, A banking gateway 184 is utilized by one or more ofmerchants, mall operators, and consumers, typically through telephonebanking, for balance inquiries. Certain merchants and mall operators canaccess national electronic funds network 186 for balance inquiryoperations. Other mall operators utilize client systems 188 whichprovide a mechanism for balance inquiries. All inquiries are routed toswitch controller 190, which as described above, can access an anonymousand consumer accounts database and file system 192. Upon receipt of theindividual account balance being inquired, switch controller 192provides a response to the requester, which includes approval or denialand the account balance information that can be supplied to the carduser as described above.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a receipt 200 from a point-of-servicemachine providing an alphanumeric card balance of more than one dollar.Receipt 200 is similar to known credit/debit card receipts as itprovides a signature block, date, time, sale amount, vendor informationand account number. However, and as described above, an authorizationcode 202 provides an alphanumeric representation of the balanceremaining on a gift card. Specifically, in the embodiment shown, abalance of $127.64 remains, and the decimal point is represented by theletter “X”.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a receipt 210 from a point-of-servicemachine providing an alphanumeric card balance of less than one dollar.Receipt 210 is similar to receipt 200 other than authorization code 212includes the characters “25CENT”, which indicates a balance of 25 centsremaining on the gift card. FIG. 9 is an illustration of a receipt 220from a point-of-service machine providing an alphanumeric card balanceof zero. Again, receipt 220 is similar to receipt 200 other thanauthorization code 222 includes the characters “1EMPTY”, which indicatesa zero balance remaining on the gift card.

While the embodiments described with respect to FIGS. 7-9 arerepresentative of sales transactions, the systems and methods describedherein provide additional functionalities. For example, and in oneembodiment, a transaction amount of $0.01 (one cent) is interpreted bysystem 10 as a balance inquiry. The $0.01 transaction results in system10 returning the current gift card balance via the authorization code asshown in FIG. 7-9. Known systems are limited to utilization of numericalcharacters within the authorization code. System 10 provides analternative to this industry trend by utilization of alphanumericcharacters, as opposed to only numbers within the authorization code, asdescribed above.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart 300 illustrating a process for creating analphanumeric receipt for a card balance returned within an authorizedmessage or balance inquiry. An ISO 8583 request for authorization isreceived 302. The received message is parsed 304 into data elements, anda merchant ID data element is validated 306 as being within a selecteddatabase. If the merchant ID is not within the selected database, adecline transaction message is returned 308 to an originating point ofsale terminal. If the merchant ID is within the selected database, thereceived message is routed 310 through a switch to an account holderdatabase. It is then determined 312 if a cardholder account balance isgreater than the requested authorization amount included in the receivedmessage. If not, a decline transaction message is returned 308 to theoriginating point of sale terminal.

If the cardholder account balance is greater than the requestedauthorization amount, the authorization amount is subtracted 314 fromthe account balance. If the remaining account balance is determined 316to be greater than $1.00, the authorization ID (ISO bit #38) isformatted 318 so that the authorization response includes the characterstring “dddXcc” indicating the dollars (ddd) and cents (cc) balanceremaining on the gift card. An approved transaction message includingthe character string is then returned 320 to the originating point ofsale terminal. If the remaining account balance is determined 322 to beless than $1.00, but more than $0.00, the authorization ID (ISO bit #38)is formatted 324 so that the authorization response includes thecharacter string “ccCENT” indicating the cents (cc) balance remaining onthe gift card. An approved transaction message including the characterstring is then returned 320 to the originating point of sale terminal.

If the remaining balance is not greater than $0.00 (e.g., a zero balanceremaining), the authorization ID (ISO bit #38) is formatted 326 so thatthe authorization response includes the character string “1EMPTY”indicating the a zero balance remaining on the gift card. An approvedtransaction message including the character string is then returned 320to the originating point of sale terminal.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart 350 illustrating a process for capturing themerchant ID and building a merchant profile supporting future cardholderrequests for redemption. An ISO 8583 request for authorization isreceived 352 from a known new merchant. The received message is parsed354 into data elements, and a merchant ID data element is validated 356as being within a selected database. If the merchant ID is within theselected database, the received message is routed 358 through a switchto an account holder database. It is then determined 360 if a cardholderaccount balance is greater than the requested authorization amountincluded in the received message. If not, a decline transaction messageis returned 362 to the originating point of sale terminal.

If the cardholder account balance is greater than the requestedauthorization amount, the authorization amount is subtracted 364 fromthe account balance and an appropriate message response is formatted 366according to the remaining card balance as described above. An approvedtransaction message including the appropriate character string withinthe message response is then returned 368 to the originating point ofsale terminal.

If the merchant ID is not within the selected database, the new merchantID is captured 370 and assigned to the store's location. A hold amountis determined 372 by dividing a point of sale terminal amount by arequest for authorization that has been received. A new merchant profilerecord is created 374 for the property and a decline transaction messageis returned 362 to the originating point of sale terminal.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart 400 illustrating the process for translating aspecific authorization amount into a card account balance inquirymessage. An ISO 8583 request for authorization is received 402. Thereceived message is parsed 404 into data elements, and a merchant IDdata element is validated 406 as being within a selected database. Ifthe merchant ID is not within the selected database, a declinetransaction message is returned 408 to the originating point of saleterminal.

If the merchant ID is within the selected database, it is thendetermined 410 if the authorization requests matches a specific amountwhich is then translated into a balance inquiry. If the authorizationrequest does not match the specific amount, the received message isrouted 412 through a switch to an account holder database. It is thendetermined 414 if a cardholder account balance is greater than therequested authorization amount included in the received message. If not,a decline transaction message is returned 408 to the originating pointof sale terminal.

If the cardholder account balance is greater than the requestedauthorization amount, the authorization amount is subtracted from theaccount balance and an appropriate message response is formatted 416according to the remaining card balance as described above. An approvedtransaction message including the appropriate character string withinthe message response is then returned 418 to the originating point ofsale terminal. If the authorization request matches the specific amount,the current account balance is formatted 420 as a character string, asdescribed above, and inserted into the message response and returned 418to the originating point of sale terminal.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart 430 illustrating a process for instantlyreversing a transaction and crediting monetary value onto a stored valuecard. A request is received 432 from a merchant to reverse or void aprevious transaction. A service representative then searches 434 atransaction history for the transaction and account in question. Uponfinding the transaction and account in question, a reversal code isapplied 436 to the transaction in question and the card account balanceis credited 438 in the amount of the previous transaction (thetransaction in question).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart 450 illustrating a process for the removal ofautomated holds placed on card balances. An ISO 8583 request forauthorization is received 452. The received message is parsed 454 intodata elements, and a merchant ID data element is validated 456 as beingwithin a selected database. If the merchant ID is not within theselected database, a decline transaction message is returned 458 to anoriginating point of sale terminal. If the merchant ID is within theselected database, it is determined 460 if the merchant, identified bythe merchant ID, places a percentage hold on account balances. A newrequest for authorization is generated 462 which equals the originalauthorization request plus the percentage hold factor.

The new generated authorization request message is routed 464 through aswitch to an account holder database. It is then determined 466 if acardholder account balance is greater than the new authorization amountrequest that is included in the received message. If not, a declinetransaction message is returned 458 to the originating point of saleterminal.

If the cardholder account balance is greater than the requestedauthorization amount, the revised authorization amount is subtractedfrom the account balance and included in a character string within themessage response that is formatted 468 as described above. An approvedtransaction message including the appropriate character string showingthe revised authorization amount is returned 470 to the originatingpoint of sale terminal within the message response.

FIG. 15 is a sample report 500 generated by system 10 for a shoppingcenter end of day transaction summary by property. Report 500 includinga tabulation of total sales and a tabulation of the total sales for eachpayment type. Total sales can then be balanced against the total salesfor the various payment types utilized during the day. With respect tothe stored value cards, report 500 include a tabulation of the number ofstored value cards activated, re-issued, locked, unlocked, transferredand voided.

FIG. 16 is a sample report 510 generated by system 10 for an end of dayaccount transaction by gift card detail by property. Report 510 includesthe total sales tabulation and stored value card tabulation describedwith respect to report 500. In addition, report 510 includes transactiondetails for each of the gift card transaction that have occurred duringthe day, including, but not limited to, a reference number, adescription, a stored value card number, a card amount, a property feesamount, a transaction amount, a payment type, a date, and a time.

FIG. 17 is a sample report 520 generated by system 10 for the dailyredemption of merchant transactions completed at a mall property. Report520 includes a total redemption amount and a total number oftransactions. Report 520 further includes for each transaction, atransaction type, a location (merchant), a transaction amount, a cardnumber and a time.

FIG. 18 is a sample report 530 generated by system 10 defining amerchant redemption summary for a month by property for stored valuecards. Report 530 includes a title of the property (e.g., a name of amall), a total amount redeemed utilizing the stored value cards, and atotal number of redemptions. In addition, report 530 includes atabulation of redemptions by merchant, the number of redemptions foreach listed merchant, and a total amount of redemptions for each listedmerchant.

Broadly, system 10, along with the methods for operation describedherein, result in a “currency” that can be deployed for malls and othermerchant groups both domestic and internationally. As such, aninternational solution for private-label, stored value gift cardscreated as a subset of the International bank card networks is provided,delivering a unique “currency” used seamlessly across groupings ofmerchant tenants and restaurants. Therefore no funds are leaked tomerchants who are outside of the gift card program grouping. In otherembodiments, instant card credits are provided by adjusting the fundsback to the card account balance upon a request that is received fromapproved merchants.

Some merchant groups, for example, within a mall or plaza, includerestaurants. System 10 is further configurable to includes a reversal ofautomatic holds sent from restaurants primarily where a greater thannecessary percentage is taken off the card balance in order to pay fortips. System 10, in one embodiment is configured to remove this hold,unlike other known cards, so that the entire gift card balance can beused at the restaurants within the merchant group.

System 10 is further configured with gift card accounting tools foradministration such as card activation, account updates, and reportingtools offering software features such as account activation, fundstransfers, instant account lock and unlock controls, account search andlookup tools, acceptance and reporting of split-tender payments frompurchasers. Such accounting tools are thought to simplify end-of-daybalancing procedures, and further provide open reporting, in oneembodiment, driven via a highly touted, relational database platformusing a Microsoft SQL server.

The accounting system enables a new form of currency available for thepurchase of goods and services at a single merchant or group ofmerchants associated with a shopping center or group of shopping centersand malls. The issued currency uses the same monetary system supportedby the state in which the shopping center is located. For instance, mallcurrency issued within the United States are U.S. dollars; issued withinprovinces of Canada are Canadian dollars; issued within the EuropeanUnion are euros; issued within the United Kingdom are pounds, and soforth.

The processing logic within the accounting system provides additionalfeatures not typically available within the debit and credit cardnetworks including customized authorization numbers, pennyauthorizations that are translated into balance inquiries, instantaneoustransaction reversals and credits applied to stored value cards, and theremoval of automated holds placed on card balances typically applied byrestaurants for server tips and gas stations for the purchase of fuel.

Through its inherent use of the debit and credit card networks, thesystem is capable, with no modifications, of being deployed acrosshundreds of different point of sale systems, cash registers and bankcard machines providing a universal solution for participatingmerchants.

The above described methods and systems build upon existing bank andcredit union funds transfer and accounting systems to add new servicesrelated to the, processing, accounting and administration of storedvalue cards, particularly by providing messaging capability to provideaccount balance data. The described systems accomplish thesefunctionalities by merging features of a proprietary, software switchingand mapping system with gateways into the client server applicationstypical of accounting systems that deliver banking services toconsumers. The result is the delivery of an improved stored value cardservices to consumers, merchants and card issuers. In addition, theabove described methods and systems allow and enable banks and creditunions to merge issuance of stored value cards with their existingcredit and debit card infrastructures.

The above described systems provide processing methods which furthersupports multiple electronic funds transfers, internet and telephoneaccess, and banking network access by linking into a core processingcenter. In one embodiment, the stored value card program utilizes aprivate-label, bank issued card and national telecommunications networksto simplify integration and operation with existing, merchant point ofsales (POS) systems. Retailers accept the gift card like a credit cardand consumers can purchase items from the mall merchants up to theamounts credited to the card during activation. Upon using the availablefunds on the card, consumers can reload their account with additionalfunds via the customer service center in the mall or the Internet.Consumers purchase their cards from the mall's customer service desk orATM dispensing machines conveniently located in or near the mall.Shoppers can make inquiries about their card balances via merchant pointof sale terminals, toll-free telephone numbers, and Internet websites.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specificembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theclaims.

1. A method for processing stored value card transactions, the storedvalue cards associated with an account holder database, said methodcomprising: receiving, from a point of sale system, a transactionmessage requesting an authorization or denial for an individualtransaction associated with the account holder database; accessing dataassociated with a particular account within the account holder databasebased on an account identifier within the transaction message;determining if a monetary account balance in the particular accountdictates approval or denial of the transaction based upon a transactiontype and a transaction amount within the transaction message;calculating a remaining monetary account balance in the particularaccount based upon approval or denial of the transaction; creating anauthorization response message based on the approval or denialdetermination, for transmission to the point of sale system, theauthorization response message including at least a unique alpha numericstring representing the remaining monetary account balance for theparticular account, the unique alphanumeric string within anauthorization identification response field of the authorizationresponse message, the content of the alpha numeric string based on datawithin a separate ISO-8583 data field, and a response code indicative ofthe approval or denial of the transaction; and transmitting theauthorization response message to the point of sale system to cause atleast one of a display of the unique alpha numeric string at the pointof sale system and a printing of the unique alphanumeric string on areceipt generated by the point of sale system as the point of salesystem is currently configured.
 2. The method according to claim 1wherein receiving a transaction message comprises receiving atransaction message that is ISO-8583 compatible.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1 wherein the transaction type includes at least one of adeposit, a withdrawal, a transfer, and an account balance inquiry. 4.The method according to claim 1 wherein determining if a monetaryaccount balance in the particular account dictates approval or denial ofthe transaction comprises: treating the transaction type as a splittender transaction when the monetary account balance for the particularaccount is determined to be less than the transaction amount within thetransaction message; and selecting a response code indicating anapproval of the authorization request for the amount of the monetaryaccount balance.
 5. The method according to claim 1 wherein determiningif a monetary account balance in the particular account dictatesapproval or denial of the transaction comprises: treating thetransaction type as an account balance inquiry when the monetary accountbalance for the particular account is determined to be less than thetransaction amount within the transaction message; and selecting aresponse code indicating a denial of the authorization request.
 6. Themethod according to claim 5 further comprising at least one of causing areason for denial of the transaction to be displayed by the point ofsale system and causing a reason for denial of the transaction to beprinted on a receipt by the point of sale system.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein determining if a monetary account balancein the particular account dictates approval or denial of the transactioncomprises treating the transaction type as an account balance inquirywhen the transaction amount is equal to a predetermined value.
 8. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein receiving a transaction messagecomprises receiving the transaction message via a bank card paymentnetwork.
 9. The method according to claim 1 wherein transmitting theauthorization response message to the point of sale system comprisestransmitting the authorization response message via a bank card paymentnetwork.
 10. The method according to claim 1 wherein: determining if amonetary account balance in the particular account dictates approval ordenial of the transaction comprises treating the transaction type as abalance inquiry when the monetary account balance for the particularaccount is determined to be less than one dollar and less than thetransaction amount, and selecting a response code indicating a denial ofthe authorization request; and wherein: creating an authorizationresponse message comprises creating a unique alphanumeric stringrepresenting the monetary account balance of the particular account toinclude characters indicative of the monetary account balance being incents inserted into the alphanumeric string following the charactersindicative of the monetary account balance.
 11. The method according toclaim 1 wherein for a transaction amount, when approved, results in aremaining account balance of less than one dollar in the particularaccount, said method comprises: selecting a response code indicating anapproval of the authorization request; and wherein: creating anauthorization response message comprises creating a unique alphanumericstring representing the monetary account balance of the particularaccount to include characters indicative of the monetary account balancebeing in cents inserted into the alphanumeric string following thecharacters indicative of the monetary account balance.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein: determining if a monetary account balancein the particular account dictates approval or denial of the transactioncomprises treating the transaction type as a balance inquiry when themonetary account balance for the particular account is determined to bezero and less than the transaction amount, and selecting a response codeindicating a denial of the authorization request; and wherein: creatingan authorization response message comprises creating a uniquealphanumeric string representing the zero account balance of theparticular account to include specific characters inserted into thealphanumeric string indicative of the zero account balance.
 13. Themethod according to claim 1 further comprising charging one or moreaccount maintenance fees against the particular account associated witha stored value card.
 14. The method according to claim 13 whereincharging one or more account maintenance fees comprises charging one ormore account maintenance fees according to state compliance policiesrelating to the charging of account maintenance fees.
 15. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein accessing data associated with a particularaccount within the account holder database comprises verifying that amerchant identifier within the transaction message exists within amerchant database associated with the stored value card.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 15 further comprising: declining the individualtransaction when the merchant identifier is not included in the merchantdatabase; and generating a fraudulent transaction report.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein calculating a remaining monetary accountbalance in the particular account comprises calculating an automatichold amount to be added to a transaction amount.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein, for a transaction amount that is negative,calculating a remaining monetary account balance in the particularaccount comprises adding the transaction amount to monetary accountbalance in the particular account.
 19. The method according to claim 1further comprising: grouping merchants in a merchant database accordingto one or more of merchant affiliation and shopping center affiliation,each merchant identified by a merchant identifier; accessing dataassociated with a particular merchant within the merchant database basedon a merchant identifier within the transaction message; and determiningif the affiliations associated with the particular merchant dictateapproval or denial of the transaction.
 20. The method according to claim1 further comprising providing reports including one or more of asummary of the daily stored value card transactions, end of day cardactivation transactions, daily redemptions and transactions completed atindividual merchant locations, and a merchant redemption summary byproperty.
 21. The method according to claim 1 further comprisingbalancing deposits relating to collected stored value card funds againstoutstanding balances of new and historically funded stored value cards.22. The method according to claim 1 further comprising ensuring thatrequests for payments approved and included in authorization responsemessage match the funds requested by debit and credit card processorsfor payment to merchants.
 23. The method according to claim 1 whereinaccessing data associated with a particular account within the accountholder database comprises routing the transaction message from a gatewaythrough a switch controller to access the account holder database, therouting based on one or more of a bank identification number, aninstitution identifier, and a branch identifier within the transactionmessage.
 24. A switch controller having computer-executable instructionsembodied therein, wherein when executed by said switch controller, thecomputer-executable instructions cause said switch controller to:receive, from a gateway into an ISO 8583 electronic funds transferservice, a transaction message originating from a point of sale system,the transaction message requesting an authorization or denial of anindividual transaction associated with an account holder database; parsethe transaction message into a series of data elements including atleast a transaction amount, a transaction type, a merchant identifier,and an account identifier; access data relating to an account within theaccount holder database utilizing the account identifier; determine if amonetary account balance in the account dictates approval or denial ofthe transaction based upon the transaction type and the transactionamount within the transaction message; calculate and store within thedatabase a remaining monetary account balance in the account based uponan approval or a denial of the transaction; and create an authorizationresponse message based on the calculation, for transmission to the pointof sale system via the gateway, the authorization response messageincluding at least a unique alpha numeric string representing theremaining monetary account balance for the account and an approval ordenial of the transaction, the unique alphanumeric string within anauthorization identification response field of the authorizationresponse message, the content of the alpha numeric string based on datawithin a separate ISO-8583 data field.
 25. The switch controller ofclaim 24 wherein the transactions are received based on at least one ofa bank identification number, an institution identifier, and a branchidentifier associated with said switching controller, the at least oneof a bank identification number, an institution identifier, and a branchidentifier within the transaction message.